This Week’s MMA Birthdays: Mirko Filipovic Turns 39

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was as feared as any fighter in his
prime. | Photo: Daniel Herbertson/Sherdog.com

He was once the standard by which all heavyweight strikers were
measured in mixed martial arts. On Sept. 10, Mirko
Filipovic will celebrate his 39th birthday.

“Cro Cop” -- a nickname that was derived from the time Filipovic
spent in a Special Forces unit in his native Croatia -- reached his
MMA peak in 2006, when he defeated Ikuhisa
Minowa, Hidehiko
Yoshida, Wanderlei
Silva and Josh Barnett
in one remarkable four-month tear to win the
Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix. His wins
over Silva and Barnett, which occurred on the same day, were his
last under the Pride banner, as Filipovic later signed with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Croatian striker failed to
meet expectations inside the Octagon, where he compiled a mediocre
4-6 record in 10 appearances.

Filipovic announced his retirement from MMA following a knockout
loss to Roy Nelson at
UFC 137 in October 2011. However, he returned to the sport a little
more than a year later, submitting Shinichi
Suzukawa with a first-round armbar at an Inoki Genome
Federation show in Japan. Rumors of a rematch with Aleksander
Emelianenko and a New Year’s Eve matchup with 2008 Olympic gold
medalist Satoshi
Ishii have since been floated but not finalized. Filipovic --
who also dabbled in politics, serving a four-year term in the
Croatian Parliament -- was a two-time K-1 World Grand Prix
finalist, winning the prestigious kickboxing event in 2012.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday the week covering Sept. 8-Sept.
14: